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Paul Ryan Is Too Little, Too Late With Zika Virus House Bill

As House Republicans announce its $662 million Zika virus bill today, it falls short only ONE-THIRD of the $1.9 billion request of what the Center for Disease Control (CDC) needs to fight the global health emergency.

We are learning more information every day about the danger and spreading of the Zika virus beyond its effect on pregnant women but to the general population. And the CDC admits they don’t have the resources necessary to fight the mosquito-borne disease. President Obama has already transferred $589 million set aside for Ebola prevention to prepare for Zika, but now House Republicans want to raid more from that fund–still falling short of what CDC needs–to combat this impending public health disaster.

What is it going to take for Paul Ryan and the House Republicans to understand what’s at stake?

House Republicans Are Putting The Public At Risk By Failing To Act on Zika Virus

Health Officials Said “They Were Not Sufficiently Prepared” To Fight Zika, Prompting The Obama Administration to Request $1.9 Billion to Fight the Global Health Emergency

Washington Post: CDC Officials Said At A Summit That “They Were Not Sufficiently Prepared To Fight The Disease.” According to the Washington Post, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosted a Zika summit with state and local officials in Atlanta last week. Government officials there said they were not sufficiently prepared to fight the disease as the weather in the continental United States and American territories is warming and mosquitoes that serve as the disease’s primary vector are becoming more prevalent. As of Friday, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, there were 672 confirmed cases of Zika in the continental United States and U.S. territories and 64 pregnant women who had tested positive for the disease. Of those cases, 323 are travel-related and 349 came from local transmission. Nearly all the locally transmitted cases, 325, occurred in Puerto Rico.” [Washington Post, 4/6/16]

CDC Principal Deputy Director Dr. Anne Schuchat: “Everything We Look At With This Virus Seems To Be A Bit Scarier Than We Initially Thought.” According to Fox News, “Top Obama administration health officials sounded a dire warning Monday about the spread of the Zika virus as the spring and summer months approach, saying the number of states where one Zika-spreading mosquito is known to live has more than doubled — a warning that comes amid a funding battle on Capitol Hill. ‘Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought,’ said Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She said a Zika-carrying mosquito is now present in about 30 states, up from 12, while also confirming that the virus – which has been linked to birth defects – can be transmitted sexually as well as through mosquito bites. And she said the virus is now linked to a broader set of complications in pregnancy than first thought. The warnings — delivered by Schuchat and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci – came amid another funding dispute between the Obama administration and Congress.” [Fox News, 4/11/16]

The World Health Organization Declared Zika A “Global Health Emergency.” According to CBS News, “The World Health Organization has announced that the explosive spread of the Zika virus in the Americas qualifies as a global health emergency, a declaration that is expected to trigger increased funding and coordinated efforts to help stop the outbreak. The agency convened an emergency meeting of independent experts on Monday to assess the outbreak after Brazil reported a troubling link between the spread of Zika virus and a surge in the number of babies born with abnormally small heads, a birth defect known as microcephaly. A number of Zika patients in Brazil have also developed a rare autoimmune condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome, which can cause at least temporary paralysis.” [CBS News, 2/1/16]

President Obama Requested $1.9 Billion To Stop The Spread Of Zika And “Protect The Health And Safety Of Americans.” According to the Washington Post, “President Obama on Monday asked Congress to set aside $1.9 billion to respond to the Zika virus abroad and to prepare for it in the United States, saying the funds are necessary to halt the spread of the disease and ‘protect the health and safety of Americans.’ The White House had detailed the outlines of the request earlier this month, arguing that new resources are needed to help ramp up surveillance efforts, control the mosquitoes spreading Zika, accelerate research into new vaccines and diagnostic tests, and help countries already battling the virus.” [Washington Post, 2/22/16]

Stat: The Obama Administration’s Funding Request Included $277 Million For The National Institutes Of Health For Research Into A Vaccine Against Zika. According to Stat, “The Obama administration has significantly increased its request for emergency funding to develop a vaccine for the Zika virus, STAT has learned. In an updated request sent to Capitol Hill Monday and provided to STAT by a congressional aide, the administration increases the amount of research funding, including vaccine research, for the National Institutes of Health from $130 million to $277 million. That money will help NIH prepare for Phase 2 trials for vaccines in the next fiscal year, according to the aide. The administration is also upping its request for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s work on vaccines and diagnostic tests from $100 million to $188 million. The increase over the original February request reflects that vaccine development is ‘further along than folks anticipated,’ but also that vaccines need to be a priority because the Zika threat has become more urgent, the aide said. The administration is balancing out the new spending by lowering its request for an unallocated contingency fund for emerging threats and eliminating a request to improve and build facilities at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” [StatNews.com, 4/18/16]

The Republican-Controlled Congress ignored Warnings From Health Experts and Argued That The Federal Government Already Had “Plenty of Money” To Fight The Zika Virus

Fox News: “House Republican Leaders Have Argued That The Federal Government Has Enough Money Now…And That Additional Funding Should Come Through The Regular Appropriations Process In The Fall.” According to Fox News, “House Republican leaders have argued that the federal government has enough money now to fight the virus and that additional funding should come through the regular appropriations process this fall. However, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers suggested last week that he would support immediate supplemental funding, with a White House request that includes a detailed spending plan. ‘We can’t do it without the numbers,’ the Kentucky Republican said Wednesday on Capitol Hill. While Rogers also has tried to assure the public that Congress will not allow a public health crisis, he has suggested that the administration might not get all of the roughly $2 billion, which he has referred to as a ‘slush fund.’” [Fox News, 4/17/16]

CBS News: House Republicans Said “It Could Take A While” To Grant “A Portion” Of President Obama’s Request For Funding To Fight Zika. According to CBS News, “Top House Republicans said Wednesday that they are increasingly likely to grant a portion of President Obama’s $1.9 billion request to combat the Zika virus, but it could take a while. It’s not clear how quickly Congress may act, however, despite the political urgency.” [CBS News, 4/13/16]

Republicans In Congress Have “Succeeded In Forcing The Administration To Divert Almost $600 Million In Unspent Ebola Funds To Fight Zika.” According to CBS News, “Top House Republicans said Wednesday that they are increasingly likely to grant a portion of President Obama’s $1.9 billion request to combat the Zika virus, but it could take a while. It’s not clear how quickly Congress may act, however, despite the political urgency and a White House pressure campaign. While they have succeeded in forcing the administration to divert almost $600 million in unspent Ebola funds to fight Zika, Republicans have sat on the White House request, which was submitted in February, demanding more information and pressuring the administration to free up Ebola money that Mr. Obama has promised to help poor nations combat future epidemics. But the White House says the budgeting maneuver is only a temporary solution and that more money will be needed soon.” [CBS News, 4/13/16]

House Speaker Paul Ryan: The Government Has “Plenty Of Money” For Zika Research. According to the Washington Post, “Republicans in the House have been more skeptical of the need for additional funds. House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wisc.) told reporters last month that the government had ‘plenty of money’ available to fight Zika. Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said House Republican are ‘please [sic] the Obama administration now agrees.’ ‘House Republicans have stated all along that we ought to save taxpayer dollars by using unspent Ebola money for Zika efforts,’ Strong said in an email. ‘Our committees will continue to monitor potential Zika and Ebola outbreaks.’” [Washington Post, 4/6/16]

Ryan: The House “Will Address This Situation Through The Regular Appropriations Process As The Need Arises.” According to CBS News, “Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said earlier in the day that the House ‘will address this situation through the regular appropriations process as the need arises, and our appropriators are looking at how to do just that.’” [CBS News, 4/13/16]

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers: The Administration’s Zika Funding Request Is “Almost A Slush Fund.”According to CBS News, “Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky., told reporters Wedneday that ‘we’re prepared to try to do a supplemental bill if it’s needed’ and that action is likely ‘before the end of the fiscal year’ on Sept. 30. At a hearing later, he acknowledged for the first time that the panel is working on a supplemental spending measure but that he wants more details to supplement the administration’s request, which he said is ‘almost a slush fund.’” [CBS News, 4/13/16]

Republican Congressman Tom Cole: “We’re Certainly Fine Probably Through The End Of The Fiscal Year, So It’s Not Like We Have To Do Something Today.” According to CBS News, “Another senior Republican said additional Zika money most likely wouldn’t come before September at the earliest. ‘We’re certainly fine probably through the end of the fiscal year, so it’s not like we have to do something today,’ said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., chairman of the House panel overseeing funding for the Centers on Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. ‘But we do need to do something in the foreseeable future, and I would think before the end of the fiscal year,’ perhaps as an attachment to a must-pass stopgap funding bill that’s required to prevent a government shutdown in October.” [CBS News, 4/13/16]

Rep. Cole: A Zika Funding Measure Could Possibly Be Attached To A Bill That’s Needed To Prevent A Government Shutdown In October. According to CBS News, “‘We’re certainly fine probably through the end of the fiscal year, so it’s not like we have to do something today,’ said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., chairman of the House panel overseeing funding for the Centers on Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. ‘But we do need to do something in the foreseeable future, and I would think before the end of the fiscal year,’ perhaps as an attachment to a must-pass stopgap funding bill that’s required to prevent a government shutdown in October.” [CBS News, 4/13/16]

After Congress “Fail[ed] To Do Its Job,” The Obama Administration Diverted $589 Million That Was “Intended To Combat The Ebola Virus” To Fund Zika Research…

The Obama Administration Diverted $589 Million That Was “Intended To Combat The Ebola Virus” To Fund Zika Research After “GOP Congressional Leaders Refused To Provide $1.9 Billion In Emergency Funds.” According to the Washington Post, “The Obama administration will take $589 million in existing federal funds — most of which were intended to combat the Ebola virus — and spend the money instead on fighting the spread of the Zika virus. The move, which federal officials described as a stopgap measure, came after GOP congressional leaders refused to provide $1.9 billion in emergency funds to limit transmission of Zika in the United States and abroad. In a conference call with reporters, the officials said they would reprogram $510 million in Ebola funds and $79 million in other resources to prepare for and respond to Zika.” [Washington Post, 4/6/16]

New York Times Editorial Headline: “On Zika, Congress Is Failing To Do Its Job.” [Editorial – New York Times, 4/14/16]

New York Times Editorial: “If Congress Doesn’t Do Its Job, The Public Will Be Put At Needless Risk.” According to a New York Times editorial, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has concluded that the Zika virus causes brain damage in babies born to infected women, which adds to the growing evidence that the virus is a major public health emergency. Yet Republicans in Congress are refusing to appropriate the money needed to respond to this crisis. A Zika outbreak began last year in Brazil and has spread to other countries. In a paper published in The New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, C.D.C. researchers say there is enough evidence to determine that the mosquito-borne virus is causing microcephaly, a condition in which babies are born with small heads. Zika has also been linked to neurological disorders in adults. President Obama asked Congress in February for more than $1.8 billion to fight Zika, but Republican lawmakers refused to act and said the government should use money that had been appropriated for other diseases, like Ebola. They have also made vague promises to provide more funds before the next fiscal year begins in October. […] Having learned from its slow response to Ebola, the Obama administration is trying to move faster against Zika. But if Congress doesn’t do its job, the public will be put at needless risk.” [Editorial – New York Times, 4/14/16]

Columnist Steve Chapman Op-Ed: If The Zika Virus Was “Created In An Islamic State Laboratory And Smuggled In By Militants Masquerading As Refugees, The GOP Candidates Would Be Blaring Like Sirens.” According to an opinion by columnist Steve Chapman for the Chicago Tribune, “If the danger were one created in an Islamic State laboratory and smuggled in by militants masquerading as refugees, the GOP candidates would be blaring like sirens. That’s about the only way the virus would get their full attention. […] It would be wiser to spend money now on programs aimed at eradicating mosquitoes, educating Americans on how to protect themselves and developing a vaccine. The Obama administration has responded to the peril by asking Congress for $1.8 billion in emergency funding, which Frieden says is ‘urgently needed.’ But Republicans in Congress have refused, advising the administration to use money provided for other diseases, including Ebola.” [Steve Chapman – Chicago Tribune, 4/15/16]

…However The “Redirected Funds Are Not Enough To Support A Comprehensive Zika Response”

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci: “We Have To Act Now.” According to Fox News, “Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top Obama administration doctor, urged Congress on Sunday to promptly agree to appropriate an additional roughly $2 billion to fight against Zika — the latest in the back and forth between the White House and GOP-led House about funding against the deadly virus. ‘We have to act now,’ Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ‘Fox News Sunday.’” [Fox News,4/17/16]

Fauci: “I Don’t Have What I Need Right Now…When The President Asked For $1.9 Billion, We Needed $1.9 Billion.” According to NBC News, “The more doctors learn about the Zika virus, the more frightening it looks, and money’s urgently needed to fight it, two top health officials said Monday. Doctors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health appeared before White House reporters to press their case for Congress to OK $1.9 billion in emergency funding to fight the virus. […] Congress has said it doesn’t want to spend any new money on Zika until the federal government uses up excess funds from elsewhere. The administration says it’s scraped up nearly $600 million as a stopgap. ‘I don’t have what I need right now,’ [Dr. Anthony] Fauci said. ‘What I’ve done is take money from other areas of non-Zika research to start,’ Fauci said. NIH will have to take money away from programs to fight malaria, tuberculosis and influenza soon, Fauci said. ‘When the president asked for $1.9 billion, we needed $1.9 billion,’ Fauci said. ‘We still don’t have enough to do what we need to do.’” [NBC News, 4/11/16]

Office Of Management And Budget Director Shaun Donovan: “The Redirected Funds Are Not Enough To Support A Comprehensive Zika Response.” According to CBS News, “In a blog post Wednesday, Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan said the administration has identified $589 million, including $510 million in existing Ebola funds, that can be quickly shifted to fight the Zika virus. The decision comes two months after the administration first asked Congress to approve nearly $2 billion in emergency supplemental funding to fight Zika, which Donovan said is spreading in Puerto Rico, the U.S Virgin Islands, American Samoa and abroad. Republican lawmakers have insisted that the U.S. first use remaining funds from the Ebola fight. […] ‘The redirected funds are not enough to support a comprehensive Zika response and can only temporarily address what is needed until Congress acts on the Administration’s emergency supplemental request,’ Donovan said. Funding is ‘urgently needed,’ he explained, for a number of priorities including accelerating vaccine research and development, conducting surveillance of mosquitoes, educating healthcare providers, pregnant women and their partners and creating more effective diagnostic tests.” [CBS News, 4/6/16]